Commissioner Niijima
by PKFP
Summary: The streets of Tokyo are riddled with crime and one woman is set to bring justice to the city; the Commissioner-General of the NPA, Makoto Niijima.


As she took her first sip of a freshly-brewed coffee, Makoto Niijima looked out at the Tokyo streets through the rain-coated windows of her office. She had been the Commissioner-General of the NPA for over two months now and was beginning to settle into the role; however, she felt the atmosphere of envy in the room that had been present since the day she arrived in Chiyoda. The ceaseless gossip that filled the room day-in, day-out cut Makoto deep, but the hustle and bustle that came with being the Comissioner-General kept any anxiety at bay. Makoto was always busy and she doubted that today would be any different - from the looks of the emails that Detective Takashina had sent her this morning, leads had been found on a shady branch of the Yakuza that was supposedly dealing drugs to minors.

Something about that case intrigued her. Makoto couldn't put her finger on exactly why, but she knew she had to follow this up.

"I'd like to oversee this case personally, if that's ok." read her response to Takashina's email.

With that, Makoto began the process of filing the paperwork that'd both kick off the investigation and allow her to lead the charge on the Yakuza den. After a deep sigh, Commissioner Niijima got to work.

As the clock on her P.A.D approached 1300 hours, Makoto approached the meetup spot. The gentle, rhythmic pitter-patter of the rain falling on her umbrella calmed Makoto, but this wasn't enough to hide how visibly nervous she was. In the time since she'd adopted the position, she hadn't taken on a case of this scale - the fear that she might mess up clawed at her. Just as her mind began wandering to darker places, Makoto's train of thought was interrupted by the distinct presence of the woman in front of her.

"Hello. You must be Commissioner-General Niijima." the woman pronounced, hand outstretched.

"Ah, Naoto Shirogane. I'm glad you accepted the offer of helping me on this case. It's a dangerous operation and I'd be honoured to have the famous Detective Prince by my side." Makoto replied to the woman, as she looked up to return the handshake. Taking time to observe the figure in front of her, Makoto noticed how Naoto beamed with confidence; her regal stance truly befit the title of 'prince'.

"Let us be off then?" Naoto asked.

"Sure. Let's do this." Makoto proclaimed with a smile. The two women turned to face the site of the den and strode towards it with the fire of determination in their eyes.

The moment Makoto entered the den, her nose was assaulted with the smell of drugs and gunpowder. Moans and gunshots rang through the halls. Smoke littered the air. Inspecting the room in front of her, Makoto noticed two Yakuza members playing cards towards the left side of the room. Chained to one of the chairs the men were sitting on was a woman dressed in skimpy attire, presumably against her will. Makoto turned to Naoto, as if to look for advice. Makoto got an answer as soon as she saw Naoto move her hand to her revolver's holster. Makoto nodded as she did the same and turned to face the two Yakuza.

"Hello, boys." Makoto grinned. The men swivelled around as they stood up from their chairs. Before they could even pull out their guns, Makoto and Naoto had them pressed against the table, unable to move.

"Tell us what you know about the drug dealing operation that's going on here." Makoto growled.

"I-in the centre of the house th-there's a b-big room where you'll find a guy named Meiyonashi! He's the head of all the drug operations in the area! P-please don't hurt us…" one Yakuza exclaimed. Stepping back and pulling out her pistol, Makoto landed four shots in the men's kneecaps. Screams of immense pain clawed through the air as the Yakuza collapsed to the ground, blood pooling beneath them.

"You do know you could've just handcuffed them, right?" Naoto mused.

After kicking the men aside, Makoto pulled out a bobby pin from her hair and turned to the woman who was restrained by the Yakuza.

"Can you keep lookout, Naoto?" Makoto asked.

With a hum of acknowledgement, Naoto paced towards the door, pistol in hand. Before beginning to pick the lock that was clasped around the woman's neck, Makoto went to tend to her.

"Are you OK? I'm sure you've been through a lot, but you'll be ok now. It's going to be--" before Makoto could finish, she noticed that the woman was looking at her. Moreover, she noticed that the person in front of her wasn't a woman, but a mere girl. As their eyes met and Makoto began to study her face, something clicked - between her slowed, forced breathing, flushed, tired face and visible bones, Makoto figured that the girl was a victim of heroin abuse. Cogs began to turn and Makoto realised that the poor child facing her was likely a customer of the very business that she had come to shut down.

Anger overcame Makoto - how could someone do something so abhorrent to anyone, let alone to a child like this?!

Makoto fell off from the lock, dropped the pin and lay beside the girl, taking deep breaths, waiting to see beyond the red mist.

Upon calming down, Makoto asked her "How many more of you are there?"

No response.

"Are you ok?"

The girl shook her head and proceeded to open her mouth, revealing to Makoto a bloodied stump of a tongue.

After a long pause, Makoto slowly asked "Can you stand?" The girl nodded and as she did, Makoto solemnly instructed for her to stay with Naoto. Expressing concern, Naoto asked Makoto if she'd be OK. Shrugging the question off as she walked out the room, Makoto mumbled "Protect the girl. Shoot any reinforcements."

Marching relentlessly towards the main hall, thoughts raced through Makoto's head. She was mortified by the Yakuza's treatment of the young girl and dreaded meeting any more, but she knew that she must confront that dread if any of them were to go free and begin to reform their lives. As she trawled through the next few corridors, Makoto began to hear footsteps trailing behind her. A sinister laugh echoed around Makoto, the noise seemingly bouncing off of the walls, going on forever. The whirr of a bullet whipping past her ear truly caught Makoto's attention and she turned around to see three shadowy figures towering over her, with imposing rifles held tight in their hands. Thinking fast, Makoto shot the figure on the left in the hand, rammed him out of the way and jabbed her pistol into the side of another bodyguard before promptly pulling the trigger. As the giant staggered, Makoto stuck out her leg and tripped him, ensuring that he wouldn't be standing any time soon. The final man turned to face Makoto as she stuck her right hand out to pin him to the wall behind him. Taking out her pistol and putting it to his chin, she took a good look at his face, noticing the fear present in his eyes. Part of Makoto relished that fear, which both intrigued and disgusted her. After shaking the lingering dread away, Makoto pulled the trigger, biting her lip all the while. Holstering her gun as warm blood ran down her hand, Makoto turned to see Naoto and the girl careening down the hall.

"Get back!" Naoto yelled as she ploughed past Makoto, with the girl running up to Makoto and clutching to her waist. The girl's head buried into Makoto's hip as gentle tears soaked her shirt. Makoto shoved her bloodied hand in her pocket, as if to forget about her sins, whilst Naoto stood up, as an immense sapphire flame engulfed her iris. A glass card appeared in her hand and she crushed it, with little shards scattering across the floor like stardust. Screaming "Persona!", a magnificent figure appeared behind Naoto, and Makoto chuckled, knowing the implications of this act; Naoto was a Persona user too. Knowing that she could no longer call Johanna, Makoto sat and watched, looking beyond Naoto to see exactly what it was that she was fighting.

There, Makoto saw a terrifying, primal being. It unleashed a roaring blast of pure energy, that knocked Naoto off of her feet. As she ran over to Naoto's aid, Makoto felt a strong haze come over her and she too, fell.

After slowly getting to her feet, Makoto realised that her vision was obscured. Feeling around her face for the offending obscurer, her hands were hit with the cold touch of metal. A tight, overwhelming pain overcame Makoto and she clocked what was going on - she had somehow entered the Metaverse once more and was reawakening to her Persona. The pain converted into anger and stepping forward, she began to rip off her mask, whilst screaming her Persona's name.

"Long time, no see." greeted Johanna as Makoto smirked and agreed.

"Shall we show this fucker the what for?" Makoto asked, and was met with an affirmation from the now-recovered Naoto, who stood by Makoto's side. In unison, a cacophony of nuclear and light energy sped towards the lovecraftian monstrosity that stood before them, obliterating the creature. In it's place lay a sorry looking man in a rough, torn suit.

"That must be Meiyonashi." Makoto mused.

"Indeed it is. He sought us out personally - whoever attacked you must've been a distraction so that he could get to the girl." answered Naoto. "In his hatred and anger, he turned into a shadow. Given your abilities, I'll assume you know what those are." she went on. Makoto nodded and ran over to Meiyonashi.

As she looked into Meiyonashi's eyes, Makoto noticed the odd colouration of them; one was yellow, the other brown. He released a deep, guttural laugh as Makoto began to handcuff him.

"How many children have you sold drugs to and blackmailed? How many have you sold into slavery?!" Makoto demanded. Met with only laughs, she began to call Johanna, but was stayed by Naoto, who reasoned that this was a job for another day.

"But there are more vulnerable children out there!" Makoto argued.

"Yes, and going to rescue them unprepared would put them at even more risk. This is beyond just the two of us.For now, let's just focus on getting this girl to safety and taking this coward into custody." Naoto responded. Knowing Naoto's words to be true, Makoto sighed and stood up, but overcome by her reawakening, she soon collapsed and fell into a deep sleep.

Some time later, she awakened, with Naoto by her side.

"Rise and shine." Naoto smiled. Inspecting Makoto's outfit, Naoto remarked "What happened to your clothes? I… didn't know you were into that." Looking down, Makoto realised she was in the same outfit that she wore during her phantom thieving days.

"It's a long story…" Makoto sighed, but laughed at the same time. "I didn't even realise that my outfit had changed! Where's the girl?"

"Sleeping over there." Naoto answered, whilst pointing across the corridor, to where the child lay sound asleep. Getting up, Makoto went to the child and picked her up in her arms. Meanwhile, Naoto went to take the handcuffed Meiyonashi outside.

As Makoto and Naoto went to the exit of the den, they saw the stunning brilliance of the Metaverse's version of Tokyo's sunset. Blinded by it's beauty, they nearly missed the sudden appearance of Detective Takashina, who had made his way into the Metaverse. A look of utter befuddlement came over his face as he noticed Makoto, in a skintight leather suit, covered in blood and holding a young child.

Makoto's cheeks were crimson as she stammered "I c-can explain! J-just don't tell anyone on the force!"

As the group emerged from the Metaverse, they were met with refreshing rainfall and flaring sirens.

"Naoto, go back to Chiyoda. I'll see this girl to the hospital. I feel I owe it to her for being so brave." Makoto calmly instructed. As she got into the ambulance, Makoto sighed. It had been a long day and she realised that the coming days would only start to feel even longer. She had so many questions, but decided that there were more important things to attend to right now - like a good nap, for starters. Before entering the land of nod, Makoto turned to the girl, who was now sleeping peacefully, with a soft smile covering her face, one that filled Makoto with the confidence of knowing that she had done the right thing.

Fin?


End file.
